As is commonly known, heat exchangers are employed to transfer heat between a fluid flowing through the heat exchanger and air. Heat exchangers typically contain a heat exchange core having a plurality of tubes or plates interposed with a plurality of fins. Air flows through the fins of the heat exchange core. The fins facilitate heat transfer between the fluid of the heat exchanger and the air. In certain applications, the fins can additionally provide structural support to the heat exchange core.
Various types of fins are known in the art to improve the heat transfer efficiency of the fins. For example, certain types of fins include louvres on a planar portion of the fin to increase turbulence. Increased turbulence increases a heat transfer coefficient between the surface of the fin and the air flowing therethrough. An increase in the heat transfer coefficient increases the heat transfer efficiency of the fin. In another example, U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2013/0199760 discloses split mini louvered fins to further improve heat transfer efficiency. However, louvered fins increase fin weight, density, and materials employed, which can be undesirable. Louvered fins and split mini louvered fins reduce the structural integrity of the heat exchange core which can be problematic, especially in scenarios where greater loads are applied to the heat exchange core. Additionally, the mini louvered fins typically do not extend an entire height of the planar portions of the fins due to design constraints which limits maximum efficiency of the fins. Furthermore, because the louvres protrude from the planar portions of the fins, a cross-sectional flow area between adjacent planar portions of the fins is compromised, which may inhibit air flow through the fins.
In another example, lanced offset fins are employed in some heat exchangers. Lanced offset fins may be employed in heat exchangers having limited package size constraints and/or to increase the structural integrity of the heater core. An example of heat exchangers that may be limited in package size and require the heat exchange core to have an increased structural rigidity are water-cooled charge air coolers (WCAC's). The heat exchangers with limited package sizes, such as the WCAC's, require a high heat transfer density per heat exchanger volume. In applications where a high heat transfer density per heat exchanger volume is required, it is continually desired to improve the heat transfer efficiency.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a fin for a heat exchanger that maximizes heat transfer efficiency and maintains the structural integrity of the heat exchanger while minimizing a weight of the heat exchanger, an amount of material utilized for the heat exchanger, and a cost of manufacturing the heat exchanger